Eritreans are preparing to celebrate the 35th anniversary of one of the greatest military victories in the thirty-year armed struggle for independence, Fenkil Operation, under the theme “Fenkil- the right choice.”
Fenkil operation, which saw the liberation of the strategic port city of Massawa, was a three-day battle that began on 8 February and ended on 10 February1990. It demonstrated, once again and in the most eloquent terms, the military prowess and ingenuity of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Army (EPLA).
Two years earlier, in March 1988, the EPLA had accomplished a successful strategic military operation against the largest contingent of the Ethiopian colonial army – the Nadew Command – that was stationed in the Nakfa Front for a decade.
The operation resulted in the demise of the Nadew Command and the liberation of Afabet; broke the spinal cord of the Ethiopian colonial army while and immensely enhancing the military capabilities of the EPLF.
British journalist and historian Basil Davidson famously compared Eritrea’s victory at Afabet with the Vietnamese spectacular military victory over France at Dien Bien Phu.
Fenkil Operation demonstrated that the end of the armed struggle was approaching. Its significance was far more than a mere military victory. It boosted the diplomatic and political struggle of the Eritrean people.
Militarily, Fenkil Operation devastated the Ethiopian army’s infantry and mechanized units stationed at the plains of Semhar. The Ethiopian navy, one of the largest in Africa, was sunk in the Red Sea with its equipment and personnel. The EPLA was able to capture a large number of Ethiopian armaments, including 80 tanks, many more artillery pieces, missiles, rockets, ammunitions, and plentiful of light and medium arms from the battlefield and the armory at the port. This dramatically changed the balance of power in favor of the EPLF.
Eight thousand Ethiopian soldiers, including 300 commanding officers two of whom were army Generals, were captured by the EPLA.
After the devastating defeat, Colonel Mengistu Hailemariam, the Ethiopian military leader, sent a message on 17th February 1990 to all Ethiopian army units saying that the fall of Massawa would mean the breaking of the spinal cord of the Second Revolutionary Army, the Ethiopian army based in Eritrea, and heralded the ultimate liberation of Eritrea.
Fenkil Operation demonstrated the EPLF’s superb military coordination. For the first time in the history of Eritrea’s war for independence the infantry, mechanized and navy units fought in unison with utmost precision in implementing their objectives. The area of operation covered 1560 square kilometers. The defeat was complete, disastrous, and unalterable.
For the EPLF and the Eritrean people, military victories were never an end in themselves. The armed struggle was launched in the first place when all political and peaceful avenues to assert their legitimate national rights were violently suppressed against the backdrop of international silence and complicity as Ethiopia continued to violate the imposed bogus “Federal Arrangement” and finally annexed Eritrea. In this perspective, the military operations were mere and inevitable instruments to advance the legitimate political objectives of the Eritrean people to achieve their independence. And as it happened, Fenkil Operation did not only inclucate a devastating defeat of the enemy at the battlefield but ended its political and diplomatic dominance.
Diplomatically, the media corporates that had been mute for a long period were forced to echo the spectacular victory. In its 10th Feb 1990 broadcast, the BBC announced the victory as “a great blow to Mengistu”.
Many media outlets all over the world gave extensive coverage to the liberation of Massawa and its consequences. Former Foreign Minister of Somalia, Mr. Said Ahmed Jamie Abdela, opined that “the success of the People’s Front to control Massawa would bring change in the strategy of the region”. Sudanese civic and political organizations openly expressed their support and poured messages of congratulations to the people of Eritrea.
The success of Fenkil Operation lies in the meticulous planning of the EPLF leaders and determination of the freedom fighters. EPLF’s planners and leaders of war were able to create the proper conditions to achieve success before the battle. The unparalleled quality of planning and implementation of Fenkil Operation was indeed evident in the time it took to accomplish the mission. It took the EPLF forces only three days to wipe out the Dergue’s army in and around Massawa and the Red Sea.
Fenkil Operation is solemnly commemorated every year in tribute and honour of the heavy sacrifices of the freedom fighters – of Eritrea’s best sons and daughters – who put the noose on the neck of the enemy. The commemoration of Fenkil and other major military operations also constitute profound historical reminders to posterity that the collective will of a small nation is indomitable in the face of aggression and injustice.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.
